We’re only 24 weeks and two days away from Matt Nagy’s first game as Bears head coach.

The Bears will open the 2018 preseason in the Hall of Fame game on Thursday, Aug. 2 against the Ravens in Canton at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. The game kicks off the 2018 Enshrinement Week, as the Hall of Fame Class of 2018 — including Brian Urlacher and Ray Lewis — will be inducted on Saturday, Aug. 4.

(Individual tickets to the game and the Enshrinement Ceremony will go on sale Friday, Feb. 16 at 10 a.m. ET.)

In 2011, the Bears were scheduled to play in the Hall of Fame Game, preceding Richard Dent’s induction, but the game was canceled due to the lockout.

The Bears have dominated the Hall of Fame game in the team’s history with an astounding 4-0 record, and you may never find a more meaningless statistic. The last time they played in the game was 2005, when they beat the Dolphins 27-24. Chad Hutchinson threw for 124 yards in the victory. Carl Ford and Zack Abron scored touchdowns as part of a 17-point fourth quarter.

The game itself is more about celebrating the Hall of Fame and being the official start to the preseason, but it does mean the Bears will play in five preseason games this summer and start training camp early. The rest of the league will open the preseason the following weekend, which means the Bears will head to Bourbonnais a week earlier than usual.

The Bears already get to have an extra (voluntary) minicamp at the end of April because they have a new head coach.

The Hall of Fame Game will mainly include young, fringe roster players, but the extra practices won’t hurt for a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2010.

Kevin Fishbain is the Bears beat reporter for The Athletic Chicago. He spent the 2013-16 seasons on the Bears beat for Shaw Media publications, including the Northwest Herald, Daily Chronicle, Joliet Herald-News and Pro Football Weekly. Previously, he covered the NFL from 2010-12 for PFW. Follow Kevin on Twitter @kfishbain.